The way of the ninja
by lucifernum
Summary: Things are getting good now. Chamo and Zazie are in Negi's life now. Yippee! Okay, the next chapter is on its way, but with slight delays because i've been getting sick alot lately with the latest being a dose of swine flu, so if its late try to forgive.
1. Nin Nin New Beginnings

Negima: The way of the ninja

This fan fiction will follow the main storyline of Negima but with slight variations of course. In the place of Asuna there will be Kaede instead. So it will be a Kaede/Negi fic so if you don't like it, don't comment okay!

Negi Springfield had graduated from the top of his class from the magic school with only 5 others graduating with him. He now held his diploma in front of him which displayed his future role in society. Negi, Nekane and Anya stood over his diploma with mouths agape, staring in surprise at the cursive writing which had appeared on the paper, Negi could only stare and whisper quietly, "A teacher in Japan?"

Negi stood on the train platform, wondering where to go next on his journey towards mahora academy and his new job. He stared once more at the map, shook his head and sighed; he didn't have one notion of where he was going next. "I think I'm stuck here "sighed Negi. He walked back to the timetable and took another look at it, the time was 8.55 and it also showed that the next train arrived at 9.00. He walked backed to the platform and continued to stare at his map vacantly for a few minutes.

A few minutes later the train pulled into the station. Negi smiled and waited for the door to slide open. But when it did he was met with a wall of bags and backsides stretching from one side of the door to the other. He stepped back and took a look in the train window and saw that not only was the door blocked, but there was not an empty space to be found on the train. Oh no, now I'm going to be late on my first day" wined a teary eyed Negi to himself. He stood looking at the train when he felt a quick tap on his head. He looked up to see a girl sitting cross-legged on the roof of the train, smiling down to him. "You can ride up here if you want De gozaru" said the girl cheerily to him. He looked at her with wide eyed wonder on his face. "Up there?" Negi said in a cracked voice. "Yeah up here, sessha will help you up; come on the train will leave without you" said the girl quickly as she extended a long arm down meet his own. Negi took hold of her arm and held on as she pulled him on the roof. "Thank you miss, but are you sure it's okay to be up here" said Negi with a nervous tone in his voice. "It's okay, don't worry your little head about It." said the girl with a smile on her face. "So what are you doing here?" "You realize that the elementary school was one stop back, de gozaru" she said as she sat there with half closed eyes. "Well actually I'm on my way to work, if you can believe it" said negi with his hand on his head.

At that moment the train began moving again. Negi sat down quickly to avoid falling off the roof. "Here we go then" he said in a nervous voice. "Wait, what do you mean on your way to work and can I get your name please?" she said with confusion in her eyes. "Oh I'm sorry, my name is Negi Springfield and I've recently been employed at the mahora girl's academy, I'm to be class 3-A's English and homeroom teacher and now if you would be so kind as to give me your name miss?" said negi looking on intently, a smile on his face. "Hey I'm in class 3-A!" shouted the girl loudly. "Oh and my name is Kaede Nagase, pleased to meet you, negi sensei"

End of chapter 1

Authors comment

Well that's the first chapter completed and I'm glad for it too. This is my second attempt at a fan fiction because my last one was a complete flop; it was not well received by some people and because of that I took it off the site. Well you know the drill, drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of it and please if there is something I can improve on, let me know. I want to get better at this. Okay rate and review.

Disclaimer

I don't own anything of Negima except a DVD and the manga collection. It's all owned by ken akamatsu so could someone tell his solicitor to stop sending those DAMN LETTERS!


	2. Cookies, Pears and Melons

Negima: The way of the ninja

"You're in class 3A!?" shouted Negi loudly. "Yes, negi sensei is there a problem with that?" said kaede as she bowed low to negi and in doing so she narrowly missed a signpost overhead. "No, Nagase-san but how old are you if you don't mind me asking?" asked Negi with a hint of worry in his voice. "Well sensei aren't you a forward one, I barely know you, maybe you should buy me dinner first" said kaede as she burst out laughing. Negi joined in on the laughing too when he realized what he said. The two of them sat there laughing like fools on the roof of the train. By the time the two had stopped laughing, the train had reached the school.

"Negi sensei, we've arrived at the academy" said a surprised kaede. "Oh, sensei I forgot to tell you, I'm fifteen years old and how about you?" "Well Nagase san, I'm ten years of age this march" said Negi proudly. "And don't you dare think I'll be a doormat of a teacher just because of my age." "Don't worry about me sensei, I'll be the least of your troubles in this class, you have my word as a Nin....... woman, as a woman" said kaede solemnly to negi.

While negi was grateful to kaede that she had shown such respect to him on this, his first day of work in this strange land and in this even stranger school, he could not help but wonder why she paused in the middle of her sentence. He came to the simple conclusion that she had stuttered and nothing else.

"Negi sensei, hurry up or the train will leave, with you on the roof!" kaede shouted at negi. While negi was lost in thought he had failed to notice that kaede had flipped off the roof of the train and run to the centre of the school plaza. Negi jerked back into reality to realize that he was now the only person sitting on the roof of the train and this was earning him some stifled laughter from the people who were now exiting the train. "Ahhhhh I'm so sorry Nagase san!" shouted Negi as he hopped down the roof and sprinted toward kaede.

"Are you done admiring the train now sensei?" Kaede joked as she giggled into her hand. Negi finally caught up to kaede and wheezed in response "Ye... yes I...I... I'm finished, um... I was wondering could you tell me where the headmaster's office is, I'm kind of lost here, heh."

"Okay sensei, let's get going and remember, hang on tight" kaede said as she rotated her shoulders in preparation. "Um, Nagase san, why would I need to hang on and why are you looking at me like that"? Said Negi he slowly walked backwards, away from the advancing kaede. "Well sensei, because of this!" said kaede as she picked up negi and threw him over shoulder. She bounced on the spot twice and suddenly broke into a hasty sprint across the academy plaza. "And sensei, call me kaede, were not in the classroom yet, de gozaru" kaede smirked over her shoulder. She sped up as she came toward the steps and in one mighty bound; she cleared all twenty four steps that led up to the academy and kept on running toward the principal's office without even breaking a sweat. Negi's jaw dropped at this display of superhuman athleticism. "Naga...e how di uh du at" mumbled negi with his mouth dug into kaede shoulder in an attempt to stop himself throwing up. Kaede replied with a wink, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies sensei." At this stage, it would have appeared as though Negi had passed out on kaede's shoulder.

Kaede skidded to a halt outside the headmaster's office and left negi down off her shoulder. Negi stood stationary for a few moments, swaying slightly, looking as though he'd spent a few hours in the local bar. "Kaede, where am I and am I outside the headmasters office"? Negi mumbled as he held his forehead in his palm. When kaede told him they were, he instantly snapped out of his stupor and stood to attention outside the door. "Okay then let's get in there" said negi nervously to himself.

Negi and kaede walked into the office and sitting behind the desk was the headmaster of mahora academy, while in a position of power in this scholastic institute and a renowned and powerful mage at that, he did not exude the aura of power and intimidation that negi had been expecting at all. He was about 4 foot, 3 inches in height and his head resembled an extremely large pear with a large, single ponytail of hair. His single, strangest trait was that of his extremely droopy eyebrows which completely overshadowed his eyes, leaving him with two black voids where his eyes should have been. "Ahh young negi, do come in, please have a seat, you too Nagase san" greeted the headmaster cheerfully. "Okay Negi Kun, first things first, we are a bit short of accommodation at the academy at the moment, kaede san would you mind if negi bunked with you for the time being?" Kaede looked down at negi and smiled "I would not mind at all, headmaster sensei, me and negi sensei have already come to know each other in the short time he has been here." The headmaster smiled when he heard this, "Excellent, kaede san, this makes matters that bit easier, back to you negi kun, we are looking forward to having you work here negi, but make no mistake about this my boy, if you do not add up to my expectations when the exams roll around, I am sorry to say that you will be let go without hesitation, do you understand?". His face became very grim at the end of this statement. Negi felt a surge of responsibility well up inside of him and he replied with vigour "Don't worry sensei; I will not disappoint you in this task, you have my word."

The headmaster was pleasantly surprised with the courage with which this was said. He allowed himself a small smirk before pressing a small button on his desk. "Kaede san, would you return to your class please as I need to talk to Negi Kun for a minute, and thank you for getting our young prodigy here safely to me, I appreciate it greatly, now run along, thank you." Kaede bowed to the headmaster and then left the room. As she was leaving she bumped into a beautiful woman with blonde hair, she apologized quickly and left the room.

"Shizuna san, this is the new teacher we've employed to teach class 3A, I was wondering could you show him to the classroom and maybe give him a few pointers on teaching the class." The woman smiled down at negi and pulled him into an embrace, "Aren't you just the cutest thing ever I've ever seen." She squealed. Negi looked up at her from beneath her giant breasts and uttered "Can I have a cookie" with wide eyed amazement.

"Well then, Negi Kun I think I better show you to your classroom for your first day of work eh" said Shizuna with a kind smile. Negi dislodged himself from the massive mammaries of Shizuna and shook himself back into reality and finally said "okay then let's go Shizuna sensei, I'm anxious to start my first day as a teacher." "Good luck Negi Kun, believe me, you're going to need it" was the last thing the headmaster said to negi as he left the room with Shizuna.

"Negi Kun, I'll be sitting in on your first day to see how well you do and ill report back to headmaster konoemon on your progress, is that okay?" Shizuna asked politely as they walked down the hall toward the classroom. She then handed him a folder containing the names and pictures of each of his students. He only had time to glance quickly through the names and faces of his future students, he admitted to himself that they were all quite attractive girls, "but would their personalities match their looks?" he thought to himself.

"Negi Kun, I'm sorry to break you from your daydream, but it's time to meet your students" said Shizuna while patting him on the head. As Negi put his hand on the door handle, he was suddenly struck with a premonition of an impending trap; he searched quickly and found it to be an eraser suspended about six feet above the door. He smiled slyly to himself and shoved the door roughly open and stood back from it. Then, just as it flew passed his face, he caught the eraser, he then walked to his desk but as he was walking, he kicked the dustbin back against the wall. He stood at the top of the classroom and smirked proudly down the classroom. "Well girls, I had heard you were quite a creative bunch of girls but I thought you'd have come up with something a bit better than an eraser and a dustbin prank" said negi smugly to the entire classroom. He was met with a room of blank stares. To his immediate surprise they all leapt off their chairs and ran towards him, all shouting "SO KAWAII!" Shizuna looked down at the pile of arms and legs writhing on the floor and uttered cheerily; "Well this should be interesting"

End of chapter 2

Author's notes: Well that's the end of chapter two. I will hopefully get more comments with this one. I know I'm going kinda slowly with the story but things have kind of dried up for a little while but I'll keep going with it. And thanks to the three people who commented on my first chapter, you three are great.

I know I shifted away from kaede near the middle but I needed to establish everything that went on in between too. Don't worry though, it will not happen again, kaede will be playing a constant role in Negi's life and career from now on. Also I have a request from you, reader; I'm between two minds about making negi and kaede lovers or just them staying as friends. If the former is chosen by you, the age changing pills will play a big part in the story and the latter will result in the story progressing as normal so I'm leaving it up to you.

And don't worry; I'll try my best to make it more interesting in the next chapter. And another choice for you, who do you think should be Negi's harem this time, send me your opinion. I simply value your opinion; I'm not at loss for idea's or anything like that. Ok, rate and review, you know the drill.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Negima; it's all done by akamatsu sempai. He is a great man.


	3. An Introduction to Magic

Negima: The way of the ninja

It was Negi's first day at Mahora academy, and his new students were few a thin pieces of school uniform short of raping him. His biggest worry at that particular time was not that he would not get to teach on his first day; it was that he would suffocate under his future students. He lay on the floor; completely still, hoping at something would deter the girls from his frail and rigid, ten year old body. He then felt a strong grip on his collar as he was hoisted onto the air and above the rest of the girls that were continuously pawing at the floor in an attempt to get a hold of him. He looked over his shoulder at his saviour and smiling back at him was the face of Kaede, complete with squinted eyes.

"Well sensei, it seems that you're getting on quite well with your students already" giggled kaede into her free hand. "Nagase san, thank you, I appreciate it greatly" wheezed Negi. Kaede looked disdainfully at Negi, then brought up her free hand to his face and flicked his forehead sharply. Everything went quiet in the classroom for the first time in quite a while now, since every girl had fallen silent and was now looking intently at the Kaede, with awe.

A few whispers spread around the classroom. Things such as: "Did she just flick the kid?" and "I'm so putting this in the newspaper!" Kaede looked down at Negi and grinned, and she said chirpily: "I told you to call me Kaede, Negi sensei". She put Negi back onto the floor and bent down to him and whispered quietly to him "Sorry about that Negi sensei, but I need to knock my name into your head sooner or later and I figured that sooner would be better, eh sensei?"

Negi held the back of his head with one hand and giggled to himself. "I guess I'll have to work on that then, Naga... Kaede san" said Negi weakly. Kaede smiled warmly and bowed to him. "Thank you, sensei, I appreciate it". Shizuna smiled brightly as she walked over to a quite flustered Negi. "I assume you've already met Nagase san, then sensei. She is quite a good student in terms of punctuality and manners but her grades are about as low as a snakes belly, I'm afraid." Upon hearing this, Negi took out his student roster and commenced a search for kaede in it. In her file, he read that she was a member of the schools walking club and she was born in the kanto region of Japan. It also said that she was the tallest girl in the class, standing roughly at 6.1 and she weighed around 87 pounds.

But one particular fact he found out of place was that she spends her weekends away from the academy and no one has any idea of where she goes during her excursions. He quickly came to an opinion that while she was away, not one bit of studying was done on her part. He also decided that since they would be living together, that he would offer up some time for a bit of private tutoring for her. He wrote this into his folder and closed it, smiling to himself.

"GIRLS, IF I COULD HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" screamed Shizuna over the chatter that had arisen once more in the classroom. Upon hearing the angry shrieks of the teacher, every girl made a mad dash for their seats, which much falling, tripping and the occasional profanity ensuing. "Now class, this is your new teacher and from what I just saw, your new class rag doll, his name is Negi Springfield and he is not just some "kid" as you so eloquently put it, Makie san."

The whole class sweat dropped and proceeded to bow furiously in apology to the new child teacher standing before them. Negi, who was still slightly scared due to Shizuna's angry outbreak, quickly snapped out of it and turned towards the class. With a nervous grin, he said quite loudly; "Hello girls, I am Negi Springfield, you're new English and homeroom teacher. I will do my best to live up to my predecessor's standard of teaching, and I look forward to getting to know all of you during my period here, however long it may be.

Negi looked around the classroom, at the smiling faces of each of his students. As he looked toward the back of the room, he spied one girl glaring angrily at him. This girl had long red hair that was tied back in two extremely long pigtails with what looked like bells. He quickly looked away from this girl and back toward the blackboard. "Now girls, it is my first day so let's get right to lessons, shall we?" He stood up straight up and attempted to write on the board but his attempts failed miserably. "Um, excuse me but can anyone lend me a stool to stand on, it appears as though I'm a little too short." In the blink of an eye, Kaede shot up toward the top of the classroom and put a small stool in front of the blackboard. Here you go, sensei, hope it's enough for you" kaede said happily to Negi. Negi was once again completely awestruck at this display of superhuman speed, and for that matter so was the rest of the class. Kaede stood there smiling dumbly around the classroom, oblivious to the fact that the entire classroom were now staring at her with blatant astonishment. Well... um, yes, thank you kaede san, I appreciate it. She smiled warmly, bowed and strolled back to her chair giggling slightly to herself. "Well then let's get started!" said Negi, his voice filled with excitement.

The class continued for another 28 minutes and Negi did quite a good job on his first day. At the end of the class all the girls went up to introduce themselves formally to this new teacher. Each girl lined up in front of the desk and told Negi their name and class number. After he had finished talking to the girls, Kaede walked up to Negi and said she would give him a walking tour of the academy. Negi said that would be lovely. "Um... Kaede san could you tell me what this girls is like" Negi pointed to Asuna's picture in his folder "I caught her staring at me during my introduction and let me tell you, she did not look happy that I was taking over takahata sensei's position." Kaede didn't even have to think about it, she simply said "Oh she's in love with takahata sensei, always has, probably always will be and on the subject, how do you know takahata sensei?" Well, "Kaede san takamichi was a close friend of my fathers and he would always come to visit me in Wales whenever he got that the chance, but the problem is that I never knew my father, by the time I was born, my father had left my mother and my house". Kaede looked at him sadly, with slightly glassy eyes. Oh Negi sensei, I'm so sorry, I had no idea, and I won't go any further into the subject."

"It's okay Kaede san, I've already gotten over it all. And Kaede san, you've gotten me calling you by your first name so I expect you to drop the honorific after my name, when we are out of class times, okay?"

Kaede wiped her eyes and smiled warmly. "Well Negi, you're a lot tougher than you look, of that much I am sure. Well then Negi, let's take that tour shall we?" Negi stood up and closed his briefcase. "Let's go then, roommate."

They began the tour with the main school building then they moved onto the gym area. Negi was a bit apprehensive about entering the pool areas as he maintained the air of an English gentleman by keeping his eyes covered. Needless to say this earned him several scattered taunts from the girls that were currently swimming there. Next they went looking around the market area and finally they made it to the world tree plaza. Kaede walked over to the drinks machine while Negi sat down and took a breather. Negi sat there wheezing slightly when he felt a small tickle run past his nose. He felt a sneeze building up within his nose and it was just about to emerge when kaede came up in front of him and put her hand out to give Negi his drink. She was just standing there with a bewildered look on her face when Negi let out an almighty "ATCHOOO" and both Negi and Kaede could not believe what happened next.

A strong wind tore through the plaza, rustling the trees and breaking small branches off them. Suddenly, Kaede felt a strong pulling sensation on her school uniform and a second later kaede's whole ensemble scattered with the wind to the far reaches of academy city. Kaede was left slumped in the middle of the world tree plaza wearing nothing but a pair of brown slip on shoes and a pair of bottles as a bra, which to tell the truth were doing a very poor job at it.

Negi looked up to see kaede slumped in front of him in the middle of the plaza looking up at him with confusion in her eyes. "Negi there's a set of clothes in my bag, please hand me them" whimpered kaede softly. Negi ruffled through the bag and found a lilac hakama and handed it to kaede. She put it on hastily and sat down next to negi. Negi allowed himself a look at kaede as she sat down. The suit she wore looked remarkably like that of a ninja's suit.

"Kaede, could I ask you a question?" said Negi quietly. "You can ask your question on one condition, Negi that I get to ask you a question first, is that okay?" said kaede quietly. "Okay kaede, what's your question" said Negi nervously. "What are you?" were the only words to come out of kaede's mouth. "Well kaede, I suppose you should know, you're owed that much considering what just happened. Well.... I'm a wizard, well, a wizard in training, and a wind mage at that and that is why your clothes are now scattered all over mahora academy. I realize that is quite a lot to take in all at once but now I'm going to ask my question"."Are you a ninja by any chance?" Negi said stoically. Kaede looked up at him and smiled. "Yup yup, that's me Negi, I'm also in training but I have to do self training as everyone in my family has given up the way of the shinobi, so it's a little hard for me to do everything on my own. But I imagine things are a lot harder for you than they are for me, learning magic and all that." Negi smiled when he heard that kaede accepted him for what he really was. But a look of worry soon appeared on his face. "Is there anything wrong Negi; is there something else you need to tell me?"

"Kaede you need to listen to me, you know about me and that's completely fine because I am the one that told you but if you were to tell anyone and I mean anyone that isn't a mage, as in a mundane, you know, one without magic, then I would be turned into an ermine for a predetermined period of time and believe me I don't want one bit, kaede" Negi said mournfully to kaede "so please kaede don't make an utterance to anyone please."

Kaede smiled down at Negi and patted him on the head. "Your secret is safe with me Negi, don't worry, your just lucky it was me who found out and not Haruna or Kazumi, because your secret would've been all over the school in a matter of minutes." "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you kaede; you don't know how much this means to me." "Don't worry Negi, what are friends for?"

The two of them walked out of the world tree plaza, talking happily about the different experiences the two of them have had. Negi talking about his journey through magic school and Kaede talking about some of the training she had done in the mountains nearby. "Oh so that's where you go every weekend" said a surprised Negi. "Yup yup, Negi there's nowhere to do it on school grounds so I go into the mountains to do it."

The two of them got back too kaede's apartment and they walked in to the living room and plopped down on the sofa. "This is a very nice apartment kaede; do you live on your own?" "Yes negi, I live on my own but all the rooms are supplied with bunk beds so it's pretty handy for you sensei or would you prefer to sleep with me sensei, you've already seen me naked so what else is there, so much for dinner eh Negi."

The two of them laughed at this joke (or was it?). "Kaede I've been meaning to ask you something, a bit of a request from me. I was informed in school that I would have to pick between two styles of fighting in my training and I've decided to opt for the battle mage choice so I was wondering if you could teach me to fight and maybe some techniques that a ninja would use in combat, that is, if you'll teach me and maybe in return I can teach you some basic magic skills that would greatly aid you in your training. I can actually feel a bit of a magic power within you and it's not weak by any means."

Well Negi, I'd be more than willing to teach you some skills and that magic does sound interesting to me. "Okay Negi" kaede stood up and raised her voice in dramatic tenor fashion "I will teach you the way of the ninja!"

End of chapter 3

Author's notes: Hello readers it's good to be back at this thing. I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter but Christmas was hectic and believes me, I mean fuckin HECTIC! The next chapter will be a bit shorter than this one considering it will just contain the training of the two prospective warriors. I will also be introducing two new characters into Negi's battling babes (its only temporary for the moment). Chamo will also be dropping in to stay as well. And pactio's, we will see about those yet.

The aging pills will take part soon enough. Kaede will prove to be a much better partner than asuna could've been so expect some stronger enemies to appear this time around. Things will start to get interesting from here on in.

I'm toying with the idea of a lemon, so give me thoughts on that and please don't hate me for it; I am only a man after all. Well that's me and my thoughts on the subject. You know the drill, drop me a comment and let me know how I'm doing. Constructive is criticism always welcome. Also if you want to drop me a couple of idea's I have a discussion forum on here. Just a forum where people think who should appear more in fan fictions such as kaede for example or even satsuki and zazie y'no

Zazie: Well I do think I should appear more in these things.

Me: Zazie! What are you doing here, in my room and how did you get in?

Zazie: It wasn't all that hard. Your window was open and you're pretty out of it when you're writing.

Me: Well now that you're here can I help you with anything zazie san?

Zazie: I'm just here to talk with you luci baby

Me: Well um that's just fine but I don't need a back rub at the moment.

Zazie: Okay ill stop for now but you can't keep me away forever, Luci you know that all too well.

Me: I would prefer not to discuss that here it's a bit of a private matter, zazie san.

Zazie: (wraps herself around my shoulders) AWW, come on you know you love me luci

Me: okay. Everybody drops a comment and...... ZAZIE, KEEP THAT ON PLEASE UNTIL IM DONE THE STORY PLEASE!

Zazie: Aww but it's so warm in here and this uniform is getting a bit stuffy. (Starts slowly undressing)

Me: Um leave... comment...appreciate it everybody... now got to go... distractions. ZAZIE PLEASE DONT GO OUT THERE, I KNOW YOU LIKE PERFORMING BUTS THATS GOIN A BIT TOO FAR. PLEASE MY MOMS OUT THERE.

I figured from now on id finish with a funny little dialogue between me and zazie from now on. She is my favourite girl after all and it may seem a bit weird but I do find her very cute after all. We were meant to be! (which is kinda odd since she's about 5'2 and I'm about 6'3 in full. Kinda like a lion and an antelope!

Disclaimer: I do not own Negima akamatsu does.


	4. The Way of the Warrior Mage

True to her promise, that weekend the training started for both our fledging warriors. After class on the Friday afternoon the two of them sped back to Kaede's room to gather whatever would be needed for their training session. After gathering things such as two sleeping bags, cooking pots and the tent, they were off into the hills.

It took them an hour to get from Mahora Academy to the small clearing where Kaede had set up many times before deep in the forested hills. When they arrived the two of them set up the tent. Now Negi was sitting in it, preoccupied with putting his things away neatly. "I noticed that you didn't bring any books with you Kaede san, no studying to be done then eh?" he lectured with a slight smile on his face. She laughed back at him "None that I'd care to do sensei."

Negi snapped his fingers and frowned, he would leave her alone about it this time. After all his things were put away, he crawled out of the tent and stood up facing Kaede. "So, what's first on the agenda Kaede san?" he asked cheerily. "Well I thought we'd start off with something simple before getting into the tough stuff, a personal favorite of mine too" she swung her arm upwards as she finished the sentence, startling Negi and making three "thunk" sounds as she did.

Negi looked toward the direction of the sound, to find three kunai buried into the trunk of a tree. "Kunai, indispensible tool of the ninja, silent and deadly, never leave home without them" she joked, yet it fell on deaf ears as Negi was now preoccupied with the three knives protruding from the tree. "I… I've only seen pictures of these in books and movies, but I never thought I'd actually touch or even hold one" Negi was lost in his knife induced revelry. He had wrenched one from the tree and was now running his fingers up and down the flat of the blade, poking the sharpened point and swinging it around wildly.

"We will be starting off with the basics of weapon and fighting techniques, Negi bozu and maybe later we will venture into the spiritual aspects and…. you're not listening, are you?" she sighed. Negi was still infatuated with the kunai knife and was now attempting to balance it on his finger. Kaede held her forehead with one hand, chuckled, took a deep breath and roared loudly. "NEGI!!" she roared, making Negi jump in surprise, he flung the knife into the air and it tore through the roof of the tent, leaving quite a large hole.

Negi froze on the spot and Kaede stood eyes wide and sweat dropping heavily. Kaede san, I... I'm sorry, I'm so… She silenced him with a quick flick her hand. "It's okay Negi bozu, it was my fault for shouting, I should've known better than to startle you when you were holding a knife" she apologized, patching up the tent and laughing. Negi was a bit taken aback by being silenced during his apology, but after thinking about it, he had seen her point and left it alone.

She stood up, turned toward him and smiled. Forget about it Negi, let's get started.

The two of them stood side by side with Negi mirroring Kaede as she showed him the proper movements needed to throw the knife. "Okay Negi, hold the knife in your right hand, make sure your index and middle finger are in line with the flat of the blade, okay good, now bring your right hand over to you left shoulder and quickly swing your hand back out in front of you and when your hand is furthest from your body, release the knife. She then demonstrated all these movements in quick succession, once again burying the kunai deep in the tree trunk. "Okay Negi, now you try it, just go at your own pace" she encouraged.

Negi took the knife in his right hand, took a deep breath and swung the knife toward the tree. He held his breath as the knife tore toward the tree and, sure enough it stayed true to its course and sunk into the bark, two inches from Kaede's previous knife.

Negi breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. Kaede however was more excited than Negi about his recent achievement. She ran over to him and slapped him hard on the back. "Well done Negi bozu, not many people succeed on their first try at it, you're a natural" she shouted, her voice filled with happiness. "If he keeps this up, I may have a sparring partner before I know it, that'll be good for me too; it's getting harder to coerce Mana into fighting me" she thought to herself, smiling warmly.

Negi was allowing himself a confident smile when she jumped on him again, holding another kunai knife. "Come on Negi, don't leave it at that, try again, perfect it and love it" her voice was shaking with giddiness, it made Negi kind of nervous. He took the knife and repeated the action down to the last breath. By now Kaede had calmed down and was back to breathing lightly. She rested her hand on his shoulder and said jokingly "If you were just a bit older, I'd be all over you, Negi." This surprised him, really surprised him. In fact, he froze on the spot, not realizing the innocence of her joke. Kaede was in the tent rummaging through her bag when she stuck her head out to see what was keeping him.

She saw him standing there, stuck to the spot. She shouted at him "Hey Negi, just a joke, shake it off, you'll be fine." He shook his head and was returned to reality just in time to see Kaede emerge from the tent holding two small katana's. "What would you say to some sword training, Negi bozu?" She said with a grin.

Negi's eyes lit up. "I'd say, bring it on, chunin Kaede" he replied, his voice full of confidence and determination. She looked him up and down with one eye open and smiled. She could see his power bursting from him. She tossed him a katana and they broke right into it.

They had spent the best part of three hours training with the small blades and going back over training with the kunai. After they had finished, the two of them dropped down by the campfire. Negi was taking big heavy gulps from his canister, when he realized, to his horror, that they had no food. His stomach grumbled. Kaede obviously heard this, or had read his mind because she got up and stretched out her arms and legs.

"You're hungry bozu, how about some fish or maybe some stew, how does that sound, Negi?" she asked, waiting almost impatiently. That would be excellent, Kaede san, but where are you going to find stew out here?" he asked puzzled. Her usual plastered on grin had grown to a full on smile now. "Ninja are the ultimate procure on site experts Negi, so I'll give you three guesses as to where I'm going to find it and the first two don't count" she shouted to him happily as she ran into the forest, her voice growing quieter, the further she ran.

Negi was left sitting in front of the campfire, alone, wondering what had just happened and where Kaede had gone. He leapt up and ran toward the tent, retrieved his staff, mounted it and kicked forcefully off the ground, rising into the air. He reached a comfortable height when he halted and looked around, searching for Kaede. He eventually spotted her, despite her being about a mile and a half from the camp, hopping from treetop to treetop toward a large cliff.

He steadied himself on his staff and sped after her. She was fast but he was faster and in no time he was gaining serious ground, or in this case, air on her. Within a few minutes he had caught up to her and was riding alongside her as she ran. She looked over at him and sighed loudly. "You really are full of surprises aren't you, Negi Kun" she shouted over the roar of the wind as the two of them traveled at high speed over the treetops. Well, I do try, but this is nothing compared to what you're doing, it's amazing, Kaede san" he roared at her.

Kaede looked back in front of her and then craned her head upwards toward the lip of the cliff. She smirked to herself and shouted to Negi. "You think you can beat me Negi, because I'd like a race to the top of the cliff" she shouted at him. Negi scoffed and laughed, undoubtedly sure of himself. "You're on Kaede san, let's do this" he roared loudly as he began to rise quickly, even higher in to the air.

Kaede was still running quickly toward the cliff face, her stride unbroken. About 25 feet away from the cliff, she drove her hands together, made several strange hand motions and in an unbelievable feat of acrobatic skill, she flew half way up the cliff, landing on an outcropping roughly three quarters of the way up. Negi was still rising rapidly but he was still in awe of the amazing jump Kaede had executed and now, incredibly she was running vertically up the cliff face. Negi was now determined, he had underestimated her and he was regretting it now. He put all he had into rising quicker than her.

The race ended in disappointment for Negi as Kaede had launched from the speeding run and onto the lip of the cliff. Balancing on the very edge and then casually strolling a few feet away from the sheer drop, plopping down on to the ground and taking a quick slug from her water canister, smiling warmly. She had put her water away and sat there on the ground, waiting and watching for Negi to rise above the cliff. She sat there for a full two minutes when Negi slowly rose above the cliff, looking quite disheartened. He landed next to her and stood looking at the ground. "I think you lost Negi bozu" she whispered into his ear. With that, the two of them broke into a fit of laughter.

Two hours later…

Our two warrior mages arrived triumphantly back to the camp, packing food wherever it would go. They piled whatever they needed into a cooking pot, relit the fire and set about making their dinner and stockpiling the food for breakfast.

They sat down at either side of the fire, awaiting the stew they had worked so hard to get the ingredients. Negi looked around at everything, the tent, the fire and cooking pot and the large barrel that obviously served as bath. "You come up here every weekend, Kaede san, your braver than I am, I could never muster up the, well I'll say it, I could never muster up the balls to come up here by myself. I would freak out and come right home before the first night was over but with you, Kaede san, I just feel safe with you, like nothing can harm me, your very strong Kaede and still so young too" he sighed "I really envy you, Kaede."

She looked at him with one eye open, a look of surprise decorating her face. "Wow… um thank you Negi, nobody's ever said something so nice to me, let alone said they envy me. But don't sell yourself short, Negi Kun look at you, a certified teacher, an accomplished apprentice mage and from the class's welcome of you; a practical ten year old pimp!" she laughed loudly. "You could have your pick of any girl in that class, I mean it" she nodded her head, chuckling to herself quietly.

Negi had a revelation he had never seen himself in this particular light. He had always thought himself weak and frail. Exactly like a 10 year old boy. He had never thought that he always had an upper hand in terms of power, intelligence and speed. He was incredibly happy that someone had pointed out his strengths as opposed to his weaknesses. He began to cry softly into his hand. Kaede was taken aback by this sudden display of sadness. "Ne… Negi, what's wrong, did I say something to upset you" she said nervously. She had gotten up, circled the fire and sat down next to him. She lifted his head from his hand to look him in the eye and he lunged for her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and cried into her chest. "Neg… Negi?" she couldn't process this, but then he spoke through the tears. "Tha… Thank you, kae… Kaede no one's ever been this nice to me be… before" he blubbered into her breasts. She looked down at him and rested her chin on his head. "Hmm, he's still only a boy alright."

After a while, Negi had stopped crying, they had a good laugh, took up the stew, they consumed it and went to bed.

About 3 a.m…

Kaede was awakened to the sound of rustling. It was coming from her duffle bag. She rose slowly from her sleeping bag, kunai clutched in her hand. She moved closer to the bag, little by little. "Please don't let it be a frog, please don't let it be a frog" she whispered to herself over and over. She tore open the bag and asleep in the bag, wrapped in her panties was a small white ermine. She breathed a sigh of relief, placed the knife back under her sleeping bag and picked the ermine up by the tail, chuckling slightly.

The small ermine hung from Kaede's strong fingers, still sleeping but stirring slightly. She sat in her sleeping bag watching the tiny creature sleep soundly. Negi stirred from his own slumber, he rose, wiping his eyes and said quietly "Kaede, what's…." he stopped when he saw the ermine dangling in midair. "Chamo!? Is that you?" he shouted loudly.

The ermine jerked from his sleep and looked around bleary eyed and when he spotted Negi he shook from Kaede's grip, dropped to the floor and ran to him. "Brother Negi, I found you" the ermine cried as he hugged Negi tightly and Negi did the same. Kaede observed this weird scene unfolding with a good natured chuckled.

Negi and the small ermine continued to talk and talk about mahora academy and his job until Kaede's weird meter went off the charts. She put her hand up and silenced the two of them. "Now, somebody needs to tell me what is going on, or tell me I'm dreaming, I will accept either explanation" she said, her voiced lowered almost to a growl. The normally good natured and flamboyant Ninja had descended into a sleep deprived annoyance/anger spiral and the ermine dialogues had sent her over the edge.

Negi apologized and began to explain. "When I was young, I came across a hunters trap late at night and in this trap I found Chamo here, he was stuck in it and I freed him. And he has stuck with me ever since, he's been like a brother to Me." Chamo then decided to formally introduce himself.

My name is Albert Chamomile anesan, the pleasure is all mine. I hear you've been taking good care of Aniki here, I take it he already told you about his secret or we wouldn't be talking right now. By the way, I am not an ermine, I am a magical ermine fairy, I just wanted to clear that up" he had a desperate tone to his voice.

Kaede looked down at the small literate ermine. And smiled. "Well, I guess when I got involved in Negi's life I should've expected to see some weird crap" she laughed tiredly. But a talking ermine…" Chamo shot her stern look "Sorry a magical ermine fairy was the least of my expectations, de Gozaru." Kaede was now on the verge of drifting off to sleep where she sat, her hands flopped to her side letting the sleeping bag she had pulled up to her neck fall to her waist to reveal her large bare breasts. Negi leapt back into his sleeping bag and buried his head in his pillow, franticly ranting about how he was "an English gentleman" and should not see such things. Chamo however sat staring at her, his eyes wide, blood dripping from his nose, breathing heavily and giggling.

When she finally stirred from her half sleep state, Chamo was passed out on the floor in a pool of blood. And Negi had fallen asleep, his head still buried in the pillow. She looked around once, yawned deeply and fell back to her much needed slumber.

That afternoon… (It was three a.m so yeah I meant the afternoon after the entire thing with Chamo, just wanted to make it clear)

Negi was stood in the middle of the camp, with Kaede sitting on a log, looking at him. Chamo had taken his rightful place on Negi's shoulder. "We haven't got a lot of time Kaede san, since of course we all overslept, but I said I would teach you some magic and I aim to teach some magic, goddamn it" he exclaimed confidently. Kaede looked up at him, her grin plastered to her face once more. "Okay sensei, teach me" she said, her voice as cool as ice.

"Let's get started, with a simple spell" he held out a small wand with a moon symbol atop it. "Your going to need this too Kaede san, to channel your magic and focus. She stared weirdly at the small stick like object before, wondering how such a small piece of plastic would help her channel her "magic" which she supposedly had.

She took the wand warily, as if it was to bite her and waved it around a bit. She bit it twice, much to Negi's puzzlement. He shook wrote this off as being one of her strange quirks. "Okay Kaede san, stand up and repeat after me; Practi bigi nar, ardescat" he shouted forcefully. A small flame burst from the wand he was holding and sat atop it until he broke his concentration. He smiled. "Now you try" he urged her on.

She stood up and shouted "Practi bigi nar, ardescat!" Suddenly a large flame burst from the wand, scorching the ground in front of her. This startled Negi, causing him to trip over his feet and Chamo to fall to from Negi's shoulder with a thud. Kaede however stood unfazed, a look of puzzlement on her face. "Is that good, sensei?" she questioned with a quiver of excitement in her voice.

Negi stood up and brushed himself off. "Good?" he said quietly. Kaede gulped loudly. "That was excellent" he shouted. "It seems I greatly underestimated your latent magical strength Kaede san, it took me a few weeks to gain a fire of that magnitude, and you get it in your first try, Hahahaha, this is amazing" he jumped around, shouting at the top of his voice.

Kaede smiled a big grin, she was happy she done something right but she was happier to have made Negi this happy. Chamo was now sitting on a branch, a cigarette in his hand and his legs crossed. "You got the moves, anesan that was really strong for a first timer, you sure you haven't done this before?" he asked with a sly eye and a wink. She looked up at the nicotine huffing ermine and winked back. "Never done it in my life, Chamo, I was as surprised as you were." Chamo chuckled and went back to his cigarette, obviously lost in his thoughts.

"Let's try another one Kaede san, let's see how far we can push this, repeat after me" he was excited now. He took a deep breath, waved his wand again and shouted "Flans exarmatio!" he screamed, leaving a loud, unnatural echo to resonate around the woods. The spell pounded off a tree and dispersed a quick wisp of air. "That spell is useful against enemies with weapons Kaede san, it completely disarms them of all weapons, leaving them vulnerable to attack" he explained. I think this one will be especially useful for you, try and cast it at me" he explained.

"Are you sure, sensei I don't want to hurt you" she questioned, a nervous tinge in her voice. Negi laughed this off, stating that all that will happen is that the wand will fly out of my hand, no harm done to me at all" he chuckled.

She repeated the action with the wand and shouted "Flans exarmatio!" The spell flew from the wand and struck Negi's right hand effectively sending his wand flying into the forest.

Negi watched his wand fly into the forest and turned back toward Kaede when he heard it land. "Your amazing Kaede san, some of the most talented people I know couldn't pull off those moves as easy as you did, you have a gift" said Negi, a tear in his eye.

They spent the next hour going over different spells and when Negi felt Kaede would be ready to learn them. After they had finished, they packed up their things and started their journey back toward Mahora academy. "What will we say if the other girls if they ask where we went this weekend?" Negi asked, a look of worry on his face.

"Say exactly what we did, Negi sensei we came up here and I taught you a few things, let them make of that what they will" she answered coolly. Negi thought about that for a minute and agreed with her.

They arrived into the mahora academy plaza at 7.56 and they began to make their way back to the dorms. The sun was setting in the distance, giving everything a faint orange glow. Negi stopped Kaede in the middle of the plaza and began to speak. Kaede, I have to thank you for this weekend, and I have to thank you ahead of time for putting up with me while I will be here. And even though we are friends and partners now, I am still your teacher and I expect you to study from now on, and we will continue this training session every two weeks because you've got to study and I will have homework and papers to grade."

Kaede looked down at him and smiled. You're the first teacher that's ever blackmailed me into studying, Negi sensei. I like that, I'll study as long as you keep teaching me magic every so often. We got a deal?" she asked sincerely. Negi nodded and smiled. "It's a deal."

The two turned around and walk straight into somebody. The two of them stepped back and apologized. "I'm so sorry… Oh your in my class, aren't you." Negi took out his folder and flipped through it until he reached the class roster. "Ah number 3 ,Zazie rainyday, am I correct?" he asked politely.

The tanned girl brushed off her three quarter length jeans and looked him in the eye. She nodded softly. She then turned toward Kaede. She walked toward her and uttered softly. "Negi sensei, he's a mage, isn't he?" Kaede sweat dropped at this question, but she did not have time to answer as Zazie began speaking once more. "I know he is Kaede san, we mages can sense each other in close proximity isn't that right Negi sensei?" she said the last part just loud enough for Negi to hear her.

Negi closed his eyes and clasped his hands. After a minute he awoke from his focused state, a surprised look on his face. She… she's telling the truth, Kaede san, she's a mage too." he said quietly.

Kaede lets get back to our room. Zazie, I'd like you to come too, we need to talk" Negi said quietly.

Zazie nodded and began to walk with Negi and Kaede. Chamo sat on Negi's shoulder, thinking to himself "Thing are going to get interesting from here on in" And he began chuckling loudly to himself.

End of chapter 4

I can not apologize enough, I swear things did not go right at all for me over the last few months. I had to wipe my laptop, losing everything and then I had this chapter finished a month ago I went back to it one day and it was gone. My little brother had deleted it.

I know it sounds like im making excuses and maybe I am but my apology remains firm. The summer holidays are coming up and I promise to get at least 3 or 4 chapters of this and my other fanfic done and heyI might even start a new one

Disclaimer: blah blah you all know who owns it at this stage, and it sure as hell aint me.

Okay guys review and pitch ideas I will listen just want to get some constructive stuff yno like what you want to see too. And yes the first girl in the group is Zazie, cause I had an idea and I love her (heh heh) also check out the fan club ive started in the discussion forums for her, a place to talk about her and say why she's so great.

Okay this is me signing off, sorry again for the lateness, this fic is not dead!!!! Rejoice!!!!!!


	5. A Silence Broken Momentarily anyway

**The way of the ninja: Chapter 5: A silence broken (Momentarily anyway).**

**The time was 21.15 and only now were our trio entering Kaede's room. Kaede pulled the key from the lock and stood back from the door, quietly allowing Negi and Zazie to pass her by. After they both disappeared inside she cast her eyes up and down the hallway, searching for a sign of anyone. When she was satisfied that no one was in the vicinity she stepped inside herself, closed the door and locked it with a "click". **

**Kaede stepped into the kitchenette area with Chamo asleep on her head to find Zazie juggling a spatula, a frying pan and a carving knife with incredible ease. Negi stood watching with a mixture of confusion and awe on his face. Kaede coughed. No reply.**

**Kaede hacked loudly. Still no reply.**

**Kaede coughed loudly, cleared her throat and phlegmed on the carpet. **

**Zazie dropped the cutlery with a loud clang and shook her head. "..Disgusting..." she uttered quietly as she walked toward the couch. She plopped down without a sound.**

**Negi simply looked disappointed. Kaede realized how truly disgusting it was. She grabbed a roll of tissue and began to wipe it up.**

**After she was done she flung it in the trash and strolled toward the couch. She sat down and looked at Zazie who looked back with a blank stare. Underlying disappointment laced her cold gaze. **

"**It got your attention didn't it?" she said desperately. She was obviously trying to salvage what respect the others had left for her. **

"**Uhhh... Its okay Kaede san, we forgive you this time, there are more pressing matters to deal with at the moment" Negi piped up at last. He turned toward Zazie, who had her head buried in a pillow from the couch. **

"**W...What are you doing, Zazie san?" said Kaede, puzzled with both eyes open. Zazie looked up at her, nose still buried in the pillow and said "..... Nice pillows..... Feels good against Zazie's skin." Then she stopped suddenly. She looked at Kaede again. "...Did you spit on this...?" she said dangling the now suspect pillow in front of her with her thumb and index finger.**

**Kaede's face fell, a mixture of annoyance, anger, sadness and desperation all becoming apparent on her face. Her face went redder and redder until.... She fell back on the couch her eyes covered by her hands, quietly murmuring "What have I done?" to herself, Chamo still snoring quietly on her head.**

**Negi massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly. Suddenly, something sparked within his mind, a sixth sense premonition. "A presence!" he thought aloud. He closed his eyes and focused, scanning the room for any hint of danger. "THERE!" he shouted. His eyes snapped open; he grabbed the small training wand that Kaede had thrown onto the table, pointed it at a seemingly empty hallway and began incanting "Rastel Maskil Magister, Quinque spiritus aerials, couentus, Sagitta magica, wries Fulguralis!**

**Five bolts of lighting formed around Negi, floated stationary for a second and then rocketed toward the hallway. Kaede jumped up and ducked behind the couch, with a nervous "YEEP" Chamo flew off her head and colliding with the wall, falling into a comatose state. Zazie however sat and watched the crackling bolts sail toward the hallway. "The hallway!!" she thought to herself. "Wait..." she said quietly, but too late.**

**The bolts struck an invisible object, dispersing in mid air. A loud flump was heard and then.... silence. **

**Negi smiled slyly and whispered to himself "Hehe... Gotcha." **

**He turned toward the girls and snapped his fingers "Every......" he stopped. Zazie was wide eyed, moisture forming. She continued to stare into the hallway, silently, seeing something the others obviously did not see.**

**Suddenly, a hissing was heard and smoke began to rise from an unknown source, seeing this, Zazie inhaled sharply in shock and clasped her mouth. A large black figure began to form, lying on the hallway carpet. A pure white mask presumably where its head should be, several black marks lining its face vertically. **

**Zazie walked slowly towards it, her blank eyes unblinking, and her mouth slightly open. She stopped over the black object and fell to her knees, still seemingly silent. Negi stood, watching her, unsure of what was happening or in fact, what he had just done. After seeing the situation that was unfolding, Kaede climbed out from behind the couch and stood watching. **

**She sat, slumped, not moving from the side of the apparition. Negi stepped slowly towards her, almost warily. ... "Zazie? Are you okay, what is this...? Thing?" he asked, confused. He knelt next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head towards him and to his surprise, moisture filled her large, cold eyes and a small grin adorned her face.**

"**... Thank you... Negi sen...Sei" brokenly escaped from her lips. She stood up and wiped her eyes, sniffled and walked slowly back to the couch, behind her the corpse of the black creature dissolved into thin air and as quickly as it appeared, and it was gone.**

"**Um.... Would you care to explain, Zazie san?" Kaede suggested quietly, a bit wary about drawing attention to her in this situation. She shook her head and simply uttered "Not now..." Kaede blinked a squinty eyed blink. "Cool with me" she said loudly. Eager not to pry into the affairs of magic folk, she began to whistle tunelessly.**

**Negi kept his calm composure but his mind was working overdrive. "What was it? What did it have to do with her? Was it stalking her? Why did it keep itself hidden?" His head was in a whirl. He shook these thoughts loose. "She said later, let's wait till later." He thought to himself.**

"**You had questions...." A small voice snapped him out of his stupor. He looked up; Zazie was nose to nose with him. **

"**Ahh!" he shouted quietly. Zazie was unflinching and at such close proximity, began smelling what anyone out of the one foot smell shot would have missed, Negi Springfield's infamous odour!**

**Having not bathed for the entire weekend, his filth began to practically exude its own presence, and he knew it. He was fully convinced that if he took his pants off, they would stand on their own.**

**Zazie stepped back from him and reversed, without changing direction, back to Kaede, seemingly without moving(which undoubtedly would have scared quite a few kids, had they seen it.)**

"**Smell him..." she whispered bluntly to her. Kaede sniffed the air, and shook her head. "I'm not getting anything" she responded, still sniffing left and right. Zazie shook her head and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Not here... Up close!" she explained, annoyed at having to explain her.**

**Now it was Kaede's turn to sample the distinctive odour that was... Eau de Negi. "**

**(Sniff Sniff, Sni...) She stopped mid-sniff, her nose coiled back in fear, her eyes squinted more than usual and she back flipped behind the couch. **

**Negi didn't know what was happening. "What!? What's wrong?" The two girls looked at each other and then back at him. Kaede responded first, trying to spare his feelings. You kinda... Um, smell, just a tad though." Was her half-hearted response. **

**Zazie let out a sigh. She stepped between the two and pointed at Negi. ".......You wreak....sensei." **

**Negi's bath sense kicked in violently and the preservation of his layer of grime became priority number one in his head. "Uh... Um N... No I don't, you're imagining things" he began to back away slowly.**

**Kaede climbed out from behind the couch and began to advance on him. "I can't have you sleeping in here, stinking up the place, now cans I, I agree with Zazie-Chan, its BATH TIME!" she said forcefully. With that she went to grab him, but he ducked under her and ran to the door.**

**Negi was frantic now. "You'll never catch me, you forgot I can... FLY! MEA VIRGA!" he shouted. His wand rose from the desk on which he kept it and flew into his open palm. He gave a sly wink "Just try and catch me" he sped off down the hallway, his laughter ringing through the corridors.**

**Kaede looked down at Zazie, who returned the gaze. "Let's do this, shall we?" Kaede smirked down at her. She simply nodded and strolled to the balcony window. She slid it open silently and looked back at Kaede. "If you think you can keep up...." She cracked a small (business) smile. She hopped onto the balcony railing, turned around and spread her arms. She took a deep breath and fell backwards into elegant swan dive.**

**Kaede gasped in surprise and rushed to the balcony. She looked franticly around the ground for any sign of Zazie, a splattered corpse, a pool of blood, even a scream. She found nothing. She hung her head, she couldn't believe it, they were six stories up. "Where did she go?" she thought despondently.**

**She looked toward the ground again in vain hope and there, sitting on a branch was Zazie, about 4 stories below the balcony, staring at the moon, almost the epitome of serenity, a soft breeze gently swaying her hair. She left out a small sigh and leapt down from the branch, landing without an injury or making a sound. She brushed herself off and ran down the lane toward the entrance to head Negi off. **

**Kaede's shoulders visibly slumped. She turned around and grabbed her key from the desk. On her way out the door she uttered loudly to herself "I knew she was a weird as hell!"**

**Negi dismounted his staff, his brow sweating at the very concept of a bath. He looked around, checking for people. There was no one. He pumped his fist in the air. "I WILL NOT BATHE!" he shouted, confidence lacing his voice.**

"**You won't... Bathe, sensei?" came a voice from behind him. Negi froze. He pivoted slowly on his heel, his arms still pumped in the air. Stood in the hallway, looking rather surprised was Nodoka Miyasaki, her long fringe obscuring her eyes from view and a large book clutched to her chest. "Mi... Miyasaki-san, umm, I... It's not how it sounds; I'm just playing a game with Nagase-san called... Uhhh, Don't you dare touch me with that sponge" a clearly embarrassed Negi stuttered out from behind his hand, his face quickly turning a heavy crimson and his voice cracking with embarrassment at being found at such a time.**

"**Oh, okay. I...I was just wondering, it sounded kind of strange, Yo...You screaming into the hallways about not bathing, sensei, I was a bit worried that the pr... Pressure may have gotten to you" stuttered the shy girl, holding the book even closer. Her face began imitating Negi's at a rapid pace. I WA... was just on my way to the library, to umm... do some sorting work for the day staff" the bookworm continued. **

**Negi was confused. "You're going to the library now? But it's almost ten o'clock, why would you go now?" he questioned, a pang of concern for the girl shot through his mind.**

"**Oh well, I'm p... part of the...." Nodoka began, but was cut off. "Oh the library exploration club, you, Ayase-san, Saotome-san and Konoe-san, is I right?" Negi broke into the sentence, causing Nodoka to jump a little. "Umm, y... y...yes, sensei I need to get going or I'll be late, I'm sorry for keeping you from your game sensei. Goodbye!" she bowed quickly and ran toward the front door. "Ah... Goodbye... Miyasaki-san" he said quietly after her. "Was it something I said?" he thought to himself, confused.**

**He suddenly remembered what he was doing. The fact that he was being pursued by two very persistent teenage girls, one being a ninja at that, hit him and the preservation of his layer of grime became priority number one once again. He swung his head both to the left and the right, surveying both hallways that spanned the bottom floor of the apartment building. He was clear. He let out a sigh of relief and strolled toward the main door of the building, almost tasting freedom. **

**He stepped outside, the cold night air washing over him, causing him to shiver but loving it at the same time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in... **

**He froze. Still holding the breath, he craned his head downwards; he didn't want to believe who was in front of him. He couldn't believe it. **

**Stood, silhouetted in the moonlight was Zazie, her hair swaying in the wind, the blank expression still plastered to her face? ".... Got you... Sen...Sei" whispered Zazie, a small grin appearing on her face as she began to advance on the terrified Negi. **

"**I think its time to submit, don't you Negi?" a voice came from behind him. "No... How..?" Thought Negi feverishly. He turned around slowly. **

**Stood in the doorway, against the soft light of the hallway was Kaede, a rope swung over her shoulder, teasing the end of it with two fingers, tensing the rope to emphasise its durability.**

"**You're taking a bath, whether you want to or..." ".......AHHHHHHHHHHHH" a scream broke her sentence. **

"**WHAT WAS THAT?" Screamed Negi, surprised, a nervous twinge in his voice. **

"**Sensei......Sakura lane...." Zazie spoke loudly, her sharp ears picking up the location of the scream, nerves becoming slightly evident in her soft voice. **

"**Let's postpone these little bathing trip girls, and see what the hell is going on, okay?!" Negi demanded, authority bursting in his voice.**

**Kaede was taken aback at this new found strength in her normally timid, passive teacher. She liked it. She felt it showed a definite improvement in confidence and courage. Things he would need in this line of work. "Alright then, lets go" Kaede shouted, her nerves washed away at the prospect of a real life fight. **

"**Okay then...... Lets....rock" Zazie whispered quietly, totally out of character. But then she closed her eyes began chanting. "Ventus...Noctem...Pluvia dies diei... Laboris solis... Irratus Natura.. " she began, an ethereal feeling filled the air. Her activation key..." thought Negi. **

"**Weiiiiiiird aaas HELLLLLL!" thought Kaede, her weird meter going off the charts.**

**Zazie continued. "Fuscus alae....expono!" her voice resounding.**

**Silence crept into the air, an eerie silence that was almost deafening to both Kaede and Negi. **

**Suddenly, two black silhouetted wings burst from her back. She spread them wide, stretching them and resounding wing beat later and she was about 6 feet in the air, almost effortlessly.**

**She hovered in the air, flapping every so often to remain airborne. A dark, angelic figure framed against the blinding moonlight. **

"**A shadow user...." mouthed Negi, his mouth agape in sheer awe at this slim figured, dark angel who now hovered in front of him.**

"**No time, sensei... The scream" Zazie reminded him, still hovering in the air.**

**She shook himself back into the mood. "Let's go girls, no time to waste!" he shouted.**

**With that Kaede broke into a sprint and leapt to the top of the trees, skimming the treetops. Zazie gave a powerful beat of the wings and rose into the air, cutting it as she broke into a speeding flight. Negi hopped aboard his staff and kicked forcefully off the ground, rising quickly into the air and making a beeline for Sakura lane.**

**The three of them kept in line, Negi and Zazie keeping directly to the side of each other, while Kaede skimmed the treetops a few feet below. Negi couldn't believe it, not two weeks in the school and already he had two people who understood him, well one and a magical scholastic recluse, but he wasn't going to complain.**

**They broke onto Sakura lane and there, lying directly in the centre of the stretch of street was a singular body, unmoving, almost lifeless. **

**Our three heroes landed and sprinted toward the prone figure. As they drew near, to Negi it became clear who it was, the red blazer standing out against the grey colour of the cement.**

**Negi's eyes widened. "MIYASAKI-SAAAAAAAAAAN" He roared, anger permeating his voice. "Ventus!" he screamed, casting something directly at his feet. He sped up, quickly gaining five or six feet on the girls and advanced even quicker.**

**Kaede shot Zazie a nervous glance, Zazie returned a blank stare. "This could be bad" thought Kaede, her own nerves acting up now.**

**Negi skidded to a halt, his shoes screeching as he stopped. He knelt next to the prone body of Nodoka, trying to stir her back into consciousness. He spoke to her, shook her gently, trying fervently to wake Nodoka. **

"**I wouldn't try anything for a while there, boya, she's deep in a hypnotic, vampiric trance. She's down for the count, kekeke..." spoke a distant, almost childlike voice.**

"**What? Who are you?! Why did you do this?!" Negi screamed into the darkness.**

**Suddenly, a dark silhouette dropped in front of him, rising from the ground.**

"**Let's just say, I was... Hungry, hehehe" the figure chuckled. The figure strolled toward Negi and the still unconscious Nodoka.**

**It stopped under a streetlight. **

**Negi's eyes widened. "Your.. You're in my class, number 18, Evangeline McDowell! You did this!?" he screamed. **

**The small, blonde, petite stuck a finger out at him and screamed "That's Dark Evangel to you, runt!"**

**End of chapter 5 **

**A cliff hanger, kinda ah well at least its done. **

**The next one will be just the battle with Evangeline and we'll see the first battle of the story.**

**Okay you know the story please comment( im a comment whore ill admit it)**

**And review too.**

**Disclaimer: Its not mine and i believe we all know it at this stage. **

**By the way just a quick revision of the chapter I realised I didn't put any translations so here they are.**

**Negi's spell in the room is just like his normal ones except he fires 5 bolts of lighting hence i believe "Quinque" is five bolts of lightning. **

**Zazie's activation key: This required a bit of research on my part. Roughly its translates as..**

**(Ventus...Noctem...Pluvia dies diei... Laboris solis...)**

**Windy night, rainy day(yeah yeah), solar eclipse.**

**Irratus natura (wrathful nature or wrath of nature).**

**Fuscus alae....expono!**

**(Black wings, emerge or expose)**

**And as expected it was later than expected, much later than expected. I am sorry, really sorry, I fully expect the occasional death threat. The next chapter will be the battle with Eva so it will be a bit shorter and the bath time will come, I promise you. **

**Okay like I said the comments were a bit rushed but i was tired. **

**I promise the next one will be up quicker. I kinda forgot there for a while but it came back and voila here it is. **

**Oh yeah this fic will continue. Okay goodbye, please comment.**


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